Entries in twofer
(7)

What would you pay to have the recycling brought outside and down to the curb?

This is what i am contemplating right now as The Twofer are starting to ask about an allowance. We used to give them a small allowance, back when they hardly "got" it, back before they knew about Five Below. We kept forgetting to pay them anyway. Recently though, they have been asking, and I've been wanting to dole out a few more chores and so it begs the question...

What would you pay to have someone empty your dishwasher every day?

A while ago I wrote a post joking that it was child labor. But the fact is, the girls are members of this household, and as such, they need to contribute. And until I see them creating a Mary Kate and Ashley empire, their contribution will have to be non-monetary. I am a better mom, a nicer mom, and a happier mom when everyone in the home is pitching in. This is also why I stopped "paying" for them to do chores. If I give them an allowance will they no longer feel that sense of family obligation? Will it be harder to get them to actually do their chores?

Probably not. It's never been easy to get them to do their chores.They never say "I can't wait to empty the dishwasher mom!"Almost every single day I have to explain to them that just like Daddy and i have jobs around the house, so do they.I don't see this changing if money is involved. What if they say, "I don't want my allowance anyway.."?I suppose I will keep the allowance and still present the argument that if they are a member of this family....You get the idea.

The Price of Chores

I supposed I could give them an allowance and not tie it to chores at all. I will consider this IF this plan doesn't work. Right now I want to try giving chores a value to help the girls understand the value of work, how long it takes to earn money, and the value of a dollar. What doe you think of the values I've assigned to various chores? Too much? Too little?

With this price list they would each be able to earn about $2.00 each week and more when I need the windows done. With stores like Five Below, in a few weeks they could earn enough to buy something fun, or save their money to buy something larger at Justice (when they have a sale). Plus, I won't have to remember ice cream money for the pool this summer! But I will have to remember to pay them every week.And that is the biggest chore of them all.

Crafty Crafters

(See THAT's what I do well! I document any and all moments for the blog.)

Then I found a box of tongue depressers (wooden craft sticks), some glue, and paint. Ah-ha! Let's frame that cute photo!

Here are some of their creations:

Printing the photo to fit was a little frustrating, but I'm a PRO-fessional so I got it right. The crafter in me decided on a 'rustic' piece of twine would look best to hang our beautiful framed photos.

Here's the final product:

Is it the most creative? No. But I proved I can craft when I set my mind to it.

I'm a fan of Janice and Susan for many reasons not the least of which is that I have twins myself, and I hope to pick their brains for help as mine are on the edge of tweendom.

But that's another blog post.

This here's all about meeting some new folks so if you're here for...

Then WELCOME!

If you're no, go away.

Kidding! Read on and you might learn something new about me.

Here are 3 things abou moi:

1. My name is Janine and I sign my posts that way but most people know me as Twincident which is my twitter name.

2. I have twin girls, The Twofer, who will be 7 in May

My Twins with the Disney twins, Chip and Dale

3. I many neuroses including those relating to public toilets, dealing with girl drama, and accpeting the fact that my kids with either be in a 12-step program or therapy when they get older.

And here are 3 things you might want to check out on my blog:

1. Fashionista Fridays - this is about all things fashionable to a little girl, and sometime for grown-up girls (like me). I sometimes forget to do a link but if you ever write about fashion on Fridays let me know if a comment and I'll add a linky next week and ping you to link up!

2. I often do Reviews and Giveaways because I have always been mouthy when it comes to telling my friends about products I like and, well, it brings me traffic. Look, I'm not the most fabulous writer, I know that, but this blog really started as an easier way to share the latest "twincident" with my friends and family instead of the mile-long email method I had been using. Also, I have several other jobs like Buzz Cooperative (which you should check out if you are a blogger).

3. I am participating in the Lose the Laptop campaign and am totally willing to BUY VOTES! OK, I'm not sure how I would do that but if you vote for me (you have to register but I hear it's easy peasy), let me know here in a comment and I will at least come by your blog and comment and thank you and follow you on twitter and be your best friend and invite you to my birthday party...

That's it. Nice to meet you! Of course, you didn't get a word in edge-wise but I'm going to shut up now and go do some blog hopping.

Last week was Spring Break in these parts and y'all know I'm not one to stick around and do crafts all week unless I have to.

So, I packed up The Twofer and headed up to Grandma's for a few days and with good reason. Their cousin had given them each an American Girl gift card at Christmas so this was a perfect time to use them.

But when you look at these photos and see the smiles you'll see that we might be a little crazy, but it's worth it!

I'm ready for some shopping with my girls!

TwoferMom and the Twofer enjoying some girl time

You can't begin to imagine the choices we faced. So much so, that we had to take a break in a quiet corner so Em could make up her mind!

Wall of clothing choices at American Girl

Em eyeing up the shoes instead of the camera

Two kisses for Grandma

Thank you Grandma!

Smiles and a big bag of loot!

El saw one of the dolls posed with this violin set and she just stared and stared. I asked her what she was looking at and she said, "Mommy, look! It's soooo beautiful!" You just never know what will catch a child's eye.

El with the most surprising must-have of the day

I'm curious, anyone else surprised by what you child has fallen in love with?